An excellent story that was hard to set down because the author made me feel like I was sitting in a rocking chair on the huge southern front porch listening to an old family tale. Family secrets and much love between these women family members. Don't pass by this book, it's exceptionally good.

First learned about Ms. Trobaugh two years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed "Praise Jerusalem," her first novel. A refreshing new voice who knows how to listen to other voices. She packs her books with platinum and bronze magnolias whom I'd love to have as friends. Sensitive treatment of race relations in the South. Can't wait for her next book.

Pull up a rocker and sit next to Pet while she listens to the "stories" Cora reads from the family book. Ms. Trobaugh is such a great author that you start to feel like you're actually right there with these women sitting in the front room of their house in the dead of winter with fabric stuffed in the cracks around the windows to keep out the winter draft. The part of the story when Ms. Addie "passes over" is written so beautifully as well as so many other parts of the story. This book is about secrets that have been forgotten but not really forgotten but it's mostly about the complexities of the south in the 1940s when friends, families and races all intertwine. Don't miss the chance to read this book. It's so sweet to feel the closeness of the women and be "next to them" as they age but it's also sad to feel the bad times they also went through. As I already shared, this is an excellent book. I now live in S.C. but I'm fromm Pa., this story has made me understand a lot of things that I never experienced and used to have a hard time believing really happened, but I am the eternal optimist wearing rose colored glasses. Great story and it's one that you can get right into.

This novel is a treasure of times-gone-by Southern atmosphere. As the three central characters journeyed to their new home in Jerusalem, Georgia, down rutted dirt roadways enveloped in kudzu wines, I traveled with them through my own rural upbringing. The novel focuses on the emotional journey of Miss Amelia as she makes sense of her past and reconciles it with her future. It is a pleasure to go along for the ride, marveling at Trobaugh's rich and specific language and her considerable talent for telling a story.

Praise Jerusalem was a marvelous book. The three main characters are believable and captured my interest from the start. The story was surprisingly suspenseful for such a gentle, thoughtful book. Trobaugh's writing is simple and elegant, and she deals with serious themes deftly. And she has a great gift for humor. I enjoyed this book greatly, and would rank among the best books I've read in the past few years.

Praise Jerusalum! is my favorite book of the year. After getting it at the library, I had to buy my own copy. This is a story of an elderly woman facing a lot of changes in her life and life style while trying to live up to her mother's ingrained training of "maintaining appearances". It is funny, touching and has several interesting twists and turns.

Completely fascinating, this book was full of surprises and wonderful displays of genuine family love. The strength of 14-year-old Dove is remarkable and the caring nature of so many of the characters is something I found pleasing. I reccommend it to anyone looking for some insight into Southern traditions and the true power of prayer.

Swan Place is the fourth of Augusta Trobaugh's novels I have read, relishing every sentence. The author continues to give us lovely stories of Southern women and their courage.
Dove, the protagonist of Swan Place, is a charming adolescent who has not yet come to realize her strength; she just does what has to be done as one challenge after another enters her young life. I would love to read of the grown up Dove to see what she becomes as an adult! Told with a strong sense of the importance of family support and love and sprinkled with southern idiomatic expressions, Troubaugh's novels show me glimpses of my own upbringing.

I loved this book. It was so refreshing to find another work of original southen fiction. This book was different from the Secret Life of Bees. Yes, there are a few similarities but it's a stretch to say they are alike in plot.

The writing to this story is eloquent but I felt that I was missing something. It could have been so much more but wasn't for me. I would have liked to know more about Sophie.

Sophie's family is overbearing and doesn't let her do anything really. She befriends Miss Anne's Japanese gardener, Mr. Otto. The two meet to paint on Sundays and the plot shifts when Pearl Harbor is attacked and the town becomes suspicious of Otto.

Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh is an excellent book which relates the effects of a strangers entrance into a Southern community. The year is 1939 when Mr. Oto, a Japanese man wanders into the town of Salty Creek Georgia. Arriving by bus, Mr. Oto is quite ill and is tended to by the local doctor. After he recovers Miss Anne, a kindly widow hires him as a gardener and offers him a place to live. As Mr. Oto he works hard and adjusts to his new life, he also tries to put behind him the shame and circumstances that led him to Salty Creek. One day while working, Mr. Oto sees a lovely woman walking by. In due time he learns that this is Miss Sophie, a Southern spinster lady who paints by the river. Following her one morning, Mr. Oto finds the courage to talk to her and these two unlikely people begin a relationship that will be severely tested and threatened when Pearl Harbor is attacked. Although most of the townspeople think Mr. Oto is Chinese, Miss Sophie knows the truth. As feelings of prejudice and tension towards anybody who looks foreign heats up in Salty Creek, Miss Sophie and Mr. Oto must made a decision that will forever change their lives.

This book, which speaks volumes about isolation and ostracism, is somewhat reminiscent of When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka and Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, both excellent novels. A well written, well presented novel, Miss Sophie and the Rising Sun will have reader finding themselves pausing to consider the plight of many who are born in this country but have ties to a foreign land. I do recommend this book and look forward to reading more by Augusta Trobuagh

As a huge fan of Trobaugh's other novel, Swan Place, I was delighted to find that Sophie & the Rising Sun has the same charming qualities and great writing that I loved so much.

Sophie & the Rising Sun will take you to a small town in Georgia, where part of southern life, includes everyone in town knowing your business. Alternate chapters are told from the voice of Miss Anne, a widow, who takes in dear Mt. Oto, a foreigner who wound up in this all white community. Mr. Oto is Asian and cares for Miss Anne's garden. He comes to be adored by several members of town, who are such loving characters, you will fall in love with each of them. Unfortunately, every town has a gossip, and Miss Ruth is no exception, creating all sorts of trouble.

Sophie & the Rising Sun is a love story, but it is also a story of compassion, accepting the differences in others, and small town life. It is a quick, easy read, but with a lot of substance and lasting impressions.